Lose Weight and Keep It Off Using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

With the New Year, we often make resolutions regarding our diet in an effort to lose the extra weight that seems to have found us. However, our good intentions often don’t last and we end up making the same resolution year after year. Are you ready to put an end to this cycle and find a new way to lose weight? If so, then Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for Weight Loss and Maintenance is the plan for you.

Created by Judith Beck and Deborah Beck Busis of the Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, CBT for Weight Loss and Maintenance is designed to help you change the way you think about dieting, improve your ability to manage cravings, and learn skills to make your diet program a success. A basic premise of CBT is that permanent changes in behavior require a change in thinking. In the context of weight loss, we work with you to develop new cognitions about eating and exercise habits that are reasonable and maintainable.

For example, if I see a piece of cheesecake and think “I deserve to eat that piece of cheesecake because I worked out today and had a good ‘food’ week,” then I am going to eat that piece of cake. My thoughts have already given me permission to dig in and eat. On the other hand, if I changed my thoughts to include my motivations for weight loss using the skills in CBT for Weight Loss, then I will be more reluctant to give in to my desire. To counter the earlier sabotaging thought, I tell myself: “Giving in and eating that cheesecake will only result in a temporary pleasure. I know for certain that if I keep giving in that I am bound to see the scale either stay the same or go up. The only way I can obtain my goal weight, maintain it, and feel better about myself is to resist the cheesecake.” This kind of thought is more motivating and is one of the skills necessary to stop myself from giving in to these cravings.

If you are interested in making your New Year’s Resolutions for a healthier you come true, then contact our therapists Tanya St. Julien and Kelly Harrison at Hidden Stream Counseling in Raleigh. They are committed to helping their clients reach and maintain their weight loss goals by using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Weight Loss and Maintenance. To schedule an appointment, contact us at 919-307-3805.